A Kano State High Court, awarded N8.5 billion in damages to Lamash Properties Limited, the owner of buildings demolished by the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, in June 2023.
The court also ordered the Kano State Government, Governor Yusuf, and the state Attorney General to pay an additional N10 million to cover the cost of filing the case.
The buildings, which were destroyed on the governor’s orders, were the subject of a lawsuit filed by Lamash Properties, which argued that the demolition was unjustified.
Lamash claimed that it legally acquired the property through an agreement with the state government during the administration of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
In an originating summons before the Kano State High Court, Lamash’s counsel, Nureini Jimoh, SAN, sought a declaration that the agreement for the development of the site was valid, enforceable, and still in effect when Governor Yusuf ordered the demolition.
The defendants, represented by Ibrahim Wangida and Bashir Muhammad, filed a Memorandum of Conditional Appearance, as per court records.
In his ruling on Wednesday, Justice Sunusi Ma’aji sided with the plaintiff, agreeing that the demolition was illegal and that the contract with the state government was enforceable.
Since the buildings could not be restored, the court ordered the Kano State Government to pay Lamash the monetary equivalent of the demolished property’s value.
However, Wangida expressed dissatisfaction with the proceedings, claiming that his team was not properly served with the Hearing Notice for the court session.
According to him, neither he nor Bashir Muhammad received the notice at their offices, and it was incorrectly claimed to have been served on someone else not involved in the case.
He added that they had filed a preliminary objection and were unaware of the hearing date.
Wangida also indicated that the plaintiff had applied to have their preliminary objection dismissed, which the court accepted, and the plaintiff subsequently moved their own motion. The defendants have filed a motion to set aside the judgment, which they intend to pursue.
This ruling follows a similar case from September 2023, where the Federal High Court in Kano ordered the state government to pay N30 billion in damages for the demolition of structures at Kofar Mata Eid Ground.
The demolitions were carried out shortly after Governor Yusuf took office, with some defending his actions as an effort to ‘sanitize the system,’ while others criticized the development.
